This week eight Etisalat employees set off on a 2,100km cycling challenge from Brussels to Barcelona.
The gruelling 13-day cycle – the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association mHealth Grand Tour – aims to raise awareness of diabetes and test mobile diabetes technology.
Ali Al Shehri represented Team Etisalat at the starting block for the first leg of the tour. Heading east from Brussels, he will ride through the Ardennes before crossing Luxembourg and meet the Rhine near Saarbrücken, Germany. Al Shehri’s colleagues will take over for the next stage through the Black Forest and Alps mountain range.
The Etisalat cyclists were selected to take part from hundreds of applications, following an international selection process and a series of assessments, and have been in training for months.
A key element of the mHealth Grand Tour is an observational study designed by Professor Michael Trenell from Newcastle University, UK into the effects of multi-day endurance exercise on blood glucose levels, using data captured and transmitted wirelessly to a research centre in England. The study will track the health and cycling performance data of elite and sub-elite athletes with Type 1 diabetes, as well as cyclists without diabetes.
For more information visit: www.mhealthgrandtour.com
